Broncos avoid any major drama
The Barrington boys volleyball team sat in the stands and watched Buffalo Grove rally late in the third game for a victory over Mundelein on Tuesday.
When the Broncos took the court, they made sure there would be little drama. Barrington was in control of the match from the start and scored a 25-20, 25-16 victory over Warren at Mundelein in a regional semifinal.
Barrington, the No. 7 seed, will play No. 2 Buffalo Grove at 7 p.m. today at Mundelein for the regional title.
When Barrington increased its lead to 15-7 in the first game, Warren, a No. 10 seed, was forced to call a timeout. During the break, Barrington coach Rob Ridenour emphatically traded high-fives with his team.
"I was very excited because we had executed perfectly a couple of things we talked about," he said.
Right after the timeout, senior libero Max Deevy served an ace. After a Warren point, he let a Warren serve float just past the line.
"You want to touch every ball, but it was one of those times where you have a gut feeling," Deevy said. "Luckily, it worked out in our favor."
Senior outside hitter Randy Lorenz praised senior rightside Nick Leiding for directing the Broncos on the court.
"He (told) us what they would run; we knew where the ball was going to go," Lorenz said.
Barrington actually led 24-16 before Warren strung 5 points together. During this run, senior Kevin Blair had a pair of kills.
Warren was unable to carry that momentum into the second game, and Lorenz's match-high 10 kills had a lot to do with that.
"When he hits one of those bounce balls, it brings our intensity through the roof," Deevy said.
In the second game, Warren hung tough early. But the Broncos broke open a 6-6 game by going on a 7-1 run.
"We wanted to keep our errors down and make Barrington score their points," Blue Devils coach Yun Chen said. "Barrington played tough and was able to put the ball down."
The Blue Devils finished the season with a 21-15 record.
"We had six brand-new starters and at times we surprised some teams," Chen said.
Barrington juniors Jake Nixon and Joe Davidson had 4 and 3 kills, respectively. Davidson also had 2 blocks. Deevy contributed 8 digs and was 17 of 18 in serve-receive. Lorenz served 2 aces.
Barrington lost to BG in two games when the teams played early in the season.
"We've improved so much as a team since then," Lorenz said.
Hersey d. Lake Forest: Ninth-seed Hersey was a point away from having its season ended by No. 8 Lake Forest in the Waukegan regional.
But the Huskies overcame third-game deficits of 19-13 and 24-20 to pull out an 18-25, 25-18, 28-26 victory to advance to today's 7 p.m. regional final against top seed Glenbrook North.
Jack Welter had 13 kills and 15 digs, Paul Kolesar had 8 kills, Cody Matchen had 15 digs and Nick Witte and Matt Cayton had 19 and 11 assists respectively for Hersey.
Conant d. St. Charles East: Peter Lauterbach had 10 kills and 8 digs as No. 8 Conant (24-11) beat No. 9 St. Charles East 25-17, 25-15 to advance to today's South Elgin regional final.
Dan Dewar also had 8 digs and Drew Fisher was 34-for-35 setting with 18 assists and had 3 block kills as the Cougars will play top-seed Glenbard North, a 25-21, 25-8 winner over Fenton.
Elk Grove d. Bartlett: Garrett Greaves had 7 kills, 7 digs and 3 aces as No. 6 Elk Grove (18-14) beat No. 11 Bartlett 25-18, 25-21 in the Lake Park regional semifinal.
Szymon Gierut had 6 kills and setter John Weiland was 56-for-56 with 19 assists for the Grenadiers.
Glenbrook North d. Wheeling: Dan Hehn had 8 kills and Nate Lichtenberger had 7 digs for No. 16 Wheeling in the 25-18, 25-20 loss to No. 1 Glenbrook North at Waukegan.
Stevenson d. St. Viator: Mike Czopek and Lucas Underys had 7 kills apiece for No. 19 St. Viator in the 25-18, 25-12 loss to the third-seeded hosts in the Stevenson regional.